Means for communicating transfer medium



Dec. 28, 1937. s. A. NEIDICH MEANS FOR COMMUNICATING TRANSFER MEDIUM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 2, 1936 JNVENTOR. f SamzlANez'dzb/L. l

ATTORNEY Mvwlw Dec. 28, 1937. s. A. NElDlcH 2,103,590

l MEANS FORCOMMUNICATING TRANSFER MEDIUM Filed Jan. 2, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

muevZidic/L.

` ATTORNEY Patented Dec. .28, 1937 matto f vUNI'IED "STATES PATENT OFFCE MENSv FOR COMMUNICATING TRANSFER l v MEDIUM samuraneiaich, Burlington, N. J., assignr, by mesne assignments, to Underwood Elliott Fisher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 2, 1936, SerialNo. 57,165`

1 Claim. (Cl. 91-54) This invention relates 'to means for communicating transfer mediuins,according to a novel principle, one of its applications being to ink or re-inkthe ribbons of Writing, duplicating, and stencillingmachines, or the like, though the use of the invention is not restricted to the particular eld'mentioned.

Broadly, one-object of the present invention is to effect the communication of ink or other transfer medium, either Wet or dry, from a suitable flexible carrier charged with such medium to a second flexible carrienwhich may betotally or partially deficient in such medium, such communication being effected by intervolving or intercoiling the charged and deficient carriers, drawn from independent sources, so thatv the fakes or courses of the charged and decient carriers lie in intimate contact wherein they remain for an appreciable length of time, after which, the carriers are unwound or uncoiled from the single reel on which they were intercoiled,

and onto their individual reels for packaging or other purpose.

Another object isto effect the intercoiling or interwinding of the charged and deficient ilexible carriers under tension, whereby to facilitate the' exchangefof the transfer medium from the charged carrier to the decient carrier by opening the pores or interstices of the deiicient car-l rier to render it more absorbent, as well vas rendering it more adherescent, and by, slightly eX- tending the charged carrier in the direction of its of a transfer medium from a supercharged carrier to condition such carrier for practical use.

Still another object is to provide for the reinking of flexible carriers, asV ribbons exhausted of ink,` in a neat and cleanly manner, without Vsoiling the'person or garments of the operator, Vtheamount of handling necessary to apply and remove the ribbons being reduced to a minimum, the parts being most accessible, occupying but `little space,wand of simple construction to avoid liability of getting out of order, and to facilitate operation of the device. y 1 To these and other endsv the invention includes certainnovel features, and combinations of parts, which will be more fully disclosed hereinafter and particularly setforth in the claim.`

In the accompanyingdrawings: Figure 1 is atop plan View of a simple form of mechanism, illustrating one embodiment ofthe invention;

Figure 2 is a Vertical sectional-view, taken on line 2-2 ofFig. 1;

Figure 3 Ais a diagrammaticview, illustrating the unwinding of the intercoiled ribbons from theV multipley `ribbon holder to the individual ribg,

bon holders l Y Figure 4 isa detail perspective View of one form of a ribbon support;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating a slightly different arrangement of ribbon supports, showing the two independent lsources of ribbon lsupply located to one side of the intercoilingvsupport' j Figure 6 is'adiagr'ammatic View, showing the .usefof two .sets of flexible carriers with a single intercoiling support, and

'Figure 7 is a topplan view of a modification ,oi the disclosure in Fig. 2, showing the use of several carriers 'on the same'supports.

`The ,desirability of re-inking ribbons exhausted of ink by use inwriting machines,` as typewriting, adding and calculating machines, and in multigraphing, stencillingv and printing machines, has resulted in the production of .a large number of devices to effect this object, most of whichhave proven impractical because the transfer medium,

yas ink was Ynotapplied evenly to the entire surface, or Vwas applied in insuiiicient quantity, or because the means for re-inking was too cumbersome. and4 clumsy to use, as well as soiling the hands and. garments of the operator, .and hence, was distasteful.

The present invention departs materially from the prior art, it having developed along a substantially novel path, the nearest approach to which, so far .as I am aware, being the disclosure in theU. S. Patent to Pelton, No. 1,826,568, issued Octoberth, 1931, wherein a pair of ribbons are wound on the ordinary ribbon spools of a typewriter, the reach of one of the ribbons between the spools, termed the writing ribbon,A being led through the usual ribbon vibrator, and the reach of the remaining or ink supply ribbon, between the spools, being led from one spoolto the other around an arcuate guide plate, whereby the spools, which serve the purpose of carbon sheets in this instance.

The principle of my invention may be embodied in a large number of mechanical forms materially differing in structure, theraccompanying drawings representing a single example of many such structures, and being more or less diagrammatic or simple in its nature, to afford a clear understanding of 'the invention.

A suitable base I supports .a plurality of ver-v tical standards 2. There are shown three such standards varranged vin alinement across the base, but it will be understood thatl a larger or smaller number of standards arranged in other relations may be employed, a few of suchvariations being illustrated in Figs. 5 to '7,V both inclusive.

A supply spindle 3 Vis journaled in any convenient manner in each of the two lateral standards, a similar spindle 4 being journaled in the center standard. As shown, the spindles are each journaled at one end insth'eir respective standards,` the bearings for the spindles extending through the standards, to expose and render accessible the ends of the spindles 3, 4, adjacent the bearings, which ends may be reduced in size and formed, as by atteningor otherwise, into tenons 5 for the reception of the socket of a suitable key or crank 6 which fits overthe tenons, to enable the operator to rotate the spindles.

The oppositefree ends of theV spindles 3, 4 overhang the base, the spindles extending in parallelism and conveniently, but not necessarily, being arranged in the saine horizontal plane.

VThe free end of each spindle may be reduced in diameter, as shown, fora suitable distance to form a pilot on which a reel or ribbon spool I or 8 .may be removably slid, until itV abuts a shoulderS (Fig. 4) formed at the Vjuncture of the reduced free end of the spindle and its body portion. v v

As one .convenient means to readily connect thelspools 'I, 8, and the spindles 3,V 4, against independent rotation, I may utilize the wellknown stud and recess interlock common in the typewriting machine art, for instance, wherein the hubs of the reels or ribbon spools 'I, 8 are recessed, as at I0 (Fig. 4) to accommodate studs Il projecting from the shoulders 9 parallel with the spindles.

To fully utilize the principle involved inmy invention, I provide each spindle with individually adjustable means to restrain the free rotation of the respective spindles, which means may conveniently take .the form Aof aresilient friction brake strap I2 .of substantially U-shaped form, adapted to Yembrace its spindle. One arm of eachbrake strap |12 is secured to its adjacent standard, as by a .stud I3 (Fig.- 2), and a headed bolt I 4-passes through and .connects both arms Vof .thesbrake .strap .1I 2,. the threaded Vouter end of Ythe bolt carrying a wing-nut |5,. for instance, to

enable the friction to be regulated `or Ventirely relieved, depending upon the progressof the reinking operation, and the degree of ink or other medium to be transferred.

The method or process of carrying out thisV invention is as follows: The spool 1 on which is wound the ribbon or flexible carrierV I9 which is decient in transfer medium, isslipped over the free endof one of the spindles 3, and adjusted along the reduced length of spindle until one side face or flange of the spool abuts the shoulder 9' of the spindle, with the studV Il entered in the recess I0 in the hub of the spool.

The spool 'I on which is wound the ribbon or flexible carrier 20, saturated, impregnated, coated or otherwisecharged with a supply of a suitable transfer medium, is similarly applied to the remaining spindle 3,

The free ends of the ribbons or flexible carriers I9 and20are then led to an empty ribbon spool or reel .8.similarly mounted on the central rotatable spindle 4, the ends of the ribbons being secured to the empty spool in any convenient manner. Y

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the free ends of the respective flexible carriersfmay be secured by clips or buckles 2| of any usual form, common inthe art, to the hub of the central spool 8 at diametrically oppositeV points thereon. Obviousl-y, if additional deiicient and charged carriers are', used, the free ends-of such carriers might be secured either to the same or other peripheral points on the central spool,` (see Fig. 6) or the free` ends of the charged and deficient carriers'rnight be fastened to the hub of the cen- Yto Yretain the spools l and 8 in place on their spindles, as the removable spring-retainers 22,

or the spindles may be tapered, so that the spools will fit tightly thereon. Y

The brakesl or rotation-restraining elements l2 are then adjusted to set up a sucient resistance toV the` rotation of the spindles 3, and a lesser degree of resistance to the rotation of the spindle llgsuicient only toprevent rotation of the central spindle in unwinding direction under the influence of the tension developed in the flexible carriers i9 Vand 2i).V` The operator now rotates the central spindle 4, as by the crank 6, to simultaneously unwind the respective deficient and charged ilexible carriers from the spoolsl and coincidentally wind them in intercoiled relation-on the central spool 4. w y

VBy reason of thetensionV setup in the reaches of the respective flexible carriers by the yielding rotation-restraining elements i2, the fakes or courses of the intercoiled flexible carriers are snugly laid around the hub of the central spool 22, Vthe tension developed by the pull exerted through the crank, on the decient carrier, op-

erating to open and elongate the pores of the material of which the carrier is formed for the ready Vreception of the transfer medium communicated ceeds, the transfer medium released by the charged carrier, is forced into the deficient carrier, in addition to being absorbed thereby through capillary action of the bibulous fibres of the decient carrier.

The time required Yfor communicating the transfer medium fromthe charged carrier to the deficient carrier is materially varied by varying the degree of tension under which the carriers are interwound onto the central spool 4, the process original spools 1, as by applying cranks 6 to the respective spindles 3 and operating them together. Y

of charging or recharging the decient flexible carrier is allowed to continue in situ, theiiiexible carriers being left in .their intercoiled relation for a sufficient period determined by the amount of transfer medium to be communicated to the deficient carrier, or by the amount of transfer medium to remain in the charged carrier. I have found that leaving a super-charged carrier in tightly intercoiled relation with an exhausted carrier, say, over night, is suilcient to recharge the exhausted carrier to a material degree, and to reduce the super-charged carrier to a mediumcharged condition, so that both carriers are fit for practical usc.

After the carriers municate the transfer medium to the deficient carrier, the intercoiled carriersmay be unwound from the central spindle 4 and rewound Von their Preferably, however, the supply spindles 3, which, in Figs. 1 to 3, are shown to right and left of the central spindle 4, may be equipped with sprockets IB connectedby a sprocket chain I1 `to 1` facilitate the unwinding operation, it being necessary only to apply the single crank 6 tothe tenon 5 of either spindle 1,- to impart rotation `simultaneously to both spindles.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of separate sources from vwhich the charged and decient carriers are drawn to the common interwinding means, and the vwith-1 drawal of such carriers to separate holders or supports which may be the same from which they were originally unwound, or others, whichever is most convenient.

It is well known that operating diiiiculties are encountered when an attempt is made to wind an I interwound set of flexible carriers, as ribbons, fromone support onto another, due to the fact that the innermost ribbons fan out.` This is caused ,by the fact that the` inner ribbon is coiled around a circumference which, though constantly becoming greater as theV winding proceeds, is less than the circumference about which the outer ribbon is wound, so that the outer end of the I9 and 20 have remained in close contact asufoient length of time to cominner ribbon extends pastthe outer end of the outer ribbon. v

Obviously, additional spindles may be provided for use with the-single re-inking spindle, 4, as shown in Fig. 6, it being possible to feed two or more sets of used and charged ribbons to a single re-inking ribbon holder for simultaneous intercoiling thereon, or the spindlesmight pass entirely through and extend on opposite sides of their standards, as shown in Fig. 7, for the reception of ribbon reels or spools on the opposite endsrof each spindle, additional spools and carriers being shown in dotted lines, the outermost spools being interlocked with the inner spools by the same studA and recess means, as heretofore described; i

The provision of separately adjustable brak-V ing, or rotation-restraining devices on the re-l arrangenrient of the several parts described, without departing Afrom the spirit and scope of the invention, the essence of vwhich resides in the pro-vision of separate or individual sources of supply for the deficient and the` charged iiexible carriers, respectively, and a means to which the charged and deficient iiexible carriers' feed, adapted tolintercoilfthe carriers *under tension, and from which the carriers are unwound or paid out when the deposit or communication of the transfer medium from the charged carrier to the decient carrier has taken place. y What I claim as new, is:-

In a ribbon-inking mechanism, the combination of a plurality of rotatable ribbon holders; a single rotatable ribbon holder; means to rotate the single .ribbon -holder to withdraw a plurality of ribbons from the iirst-mentioned plurality ofV holders, and wind them on the single ribbon holder in intercoiled relation; and driving means to connect the first-named plurality of ribbon holdersfor simultaneous rotation, to enable rotationv of one of the iirst-named ribbon holders to turn all of such holders to unwind the intercoiled ribbons from the single holder, and to rewind Vthe ribbons on their respective individual holders.

SAMUEL A. NEIDICH. 

